With the warm weather approaching, come the benefits of gardening: a chance to reduce stress, clear your head, and be in the moment. Taking care of plants is also a bit like taking care of yourself. Here you will find useful information and sound advice for organizing your garden.

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Biological control agents

Some predatory flies are useful in reducing the populations of other flies.

Photo: Insectarium de Montréal (Claude Pilon)

The impact parastoids have on populations of insect pests, such as aphids, provides ample support for their use in controling pests of crops and forests.

Photo: Insectarium de Montréal (Claude Pilon)

These small orange dots are mites parasitizing a crane fly. In addition to feeding on the blood of their host, the mites take advantage of the the crane fly's movements travel from one place to another.

Photo: Insectarium de Montréal (Claude Pilon)

Many people don’t know that some insects are natural pest control agents. They are divided into three categories: predators, parasites and parasitoids.

Predators attack, kill and eat many different kinds of prey.

Parasites only attack a few kinds of prey and their short-term activity is rarely lethal to their host.

Their attack leads to the victim’s death in a relatively short period of time. At the beginning, the victim does not seem bothered by its occupant and develops normally, although it is being devoured from the inside. The host’s death is followed by the emergence of one or more adult parasitoids that are ready to mate and begin the process again.

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Space for Life brings together the Biodôme, the Insectarium, the Jardin botanique and the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan on the same site.These four prestigious institutions of the City of Montreal form the largest natural science complex in Canada.